Episcopal Church Recognizes All Couples

July 14, 2000|By GUSTAV NIEBUHR The New York Times

DENVER — Leaders of the Episcopal Church reached agreement Thursday on an unusual resolution about human sexuality, in which the church officially acknowledged that its parishioners include unmarried couples living in long-term relationships and that those relationships are worthy of pastoral care.

The resolution makes no distinction between heterosexual and homosexual relationships, but the discussion among church leaders focused almost entirely on its use in acknowledging long-term relationships among gay and lesbian Episcopalians.

The resolution, approved by the church's bishops in a lopsided vote of 119-19, with four bishops abstaining, said that the church "expects" long-term relationships among unmarried couples to be monogamous and characterized by "mutual affection and respect." It condemns promiscuity and, in a clause cited by some bishops who spoke warily of the broader resolution, notes the church's traditional teaching on the sanctity of marriage.

Earlier this week, the resolution was approved by clergy and lay representatives at the denomination's General Convention, its top policy-making body, whose meeting at the Denver Convention Center ends today.

The convention, which meets every three years, is divided into two chambers, a House of Deputies, with clergy and lay people, and a House of Bishops. For any measure to become church law or policy, it must be approved by both houses.